Leaf construction



March 9, 1965 T. URQ HART 7 LEAF CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 4, 1961 FIGJ.|s

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THORNTON L. URQU HAR T WWMZWY W ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,172,506LEAF CONSTRUCTION Thornton L. Urquhart, Farmington, Mich., assignor toByrne Doors, Inc., Ferndale, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Filed Dec.4, 1961, Ser. No. 156,882 2 Claims. (Cl. 18934) This invention relatesgenerally to the construction of a leaf for controlling an opening in abuilding.

One object of the invention is to provide a leaf which is strong, hashigh resistance to Wind load and is light in weight.

Another object is to provide a leaf which is composed of only a fewbasic parts, reducing manufacturing costs.

Another object is to provide a leaf which is made up in large part of anumber of elements of the same unit size so that leaves of varying sizesmay be formed by employing more or fewer of the elements.

Another object is to provide a leaf comprising a panel including aplurality of tubular members extending in the same direction and havingsurfaces lying in the face of the panel.

Another object is to provide a leaf including a plurality of elongatedtubular members arranged edge to edge in parallel relation andcooperating to define a face of the panel, the tubular members being ofidentical crosssection.

Another object is to provide a leaf wherein the tubular members havecomplementary engaging portions along the adjacent edges thereof toresist relative lateral deflection of the tubular members.

Another object is to provide a leaf wherein each tubular member has arib along one edge and a complementary groove along the opposite edge,the ribs and grooves of adjacent tubular members engaging one another toprevent relative lateral deflection.

Another object is to provide a leaf wherein the walls of the tubularmembers cooperating to define a face of the panel are flat and coplanar,and wherein preferably each of said walls is formed with a longitudinalcrease to prevent the walls from having a wavy appearance.

Another object is to provide a leaf wherein the opposite walls of thetubular members are flat and parallel to the walls thereof defining theface of the panel, and are likewise formed with longitudinal creases sothat the tubular members are individually reversible.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent as thedescription proceeds, especially when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view of a leaf embodying my invention.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged sectional View, with parts broken away, taken onthe line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view, with parts broken away, taken onthe line 33 of FIGURE 1.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, a leaf or panel is shownin FIGURE 1 and is indicated generally by the reference character 10.The leaf may be one of several making up a door for opening and closingan opening in a building. On the other hand, such a door may compriseonly the single leaf illustrated.

The leaf is made up of the end channels 12 and 14, and the plurality oflike tubular members 16 extending between the channels. The channels 12and 14 are of the same, although reversed, cross-sectional outline, asseen in FIGURE 2. The channels 12 and and 14 are vertical members andextend along and define the side edges of the leaf.

The tubular members are horizontal and extend between the channels 12and 14, as shown in FIGURES 1 3,172,596 Patented Mar. 9, 1965 and 2. Thetubular members 16 are all of the same construction, size andconfiguration, and are shown in crosssection in FIGURE 3. The tubularmembers are formed from any suitable material such, for example, assteel, the material being of uniform wall thickness throughout. Thematerial forming the tubular members may initially be flat and formed bysuitable equipment to the configuration or cross-section shown in FIGURE3.

The tubular members are generally rectangular, each having the fiat,planar front face 18 and the flat, planar rear face 20 which is parallelto the front face. The top wall 22 is formed throughout its length witha rib 24 of generally semi-cylindrical form, and the bottom wall 26 isformed throughout its length with the groove 28 likewise ofsemi-cylindrical form. The grooves 28 are slight ly larger than the ribs24 so that the ribs can be received in the grooves in the manner shownwherein the walls 22 and 26 engage each other in full surface-to-surfacecontacting relation. The walls 22 and 26, except for the ribs andgrooves therein, are flat, planar surfaces parallel to one another.

The tubular members are nested together edge to edge, that is they arestacked one on top of the other and extend horizontally in parallelrelation from one channel 12 to the other channel 14. The ribs andgrooves 24 and 28 provide a tongue and groove interlock between thetubular members to resist lateral deflection which might result fromwind load, for example.

As will be understood from FIGURE 3, the tubular members may be formedfrom a sheet of material the op posite edges of which are interlockedalong the rear face as indicated at 30. This need not be a weldedconnection and may simply be a mechanical interlock. Thus, one edge isreturn bent along the full length of the tubular member to provide aterminal tongue 32, and the other edge likewise along the full length ofthe member has an offset portion 34 return bent at 36 to provide agroove for receiving the tongue.

It will be noted that the front face 18 of each tubular member isprovided with a longitudinal rib or crease 40 which extends the fulllength of the tubular member midway between the top and bottom thereof.The crease is provided to strengthen the tubular member and to preventthe flat surface of the wall 18 from developing a wavy or irregularappearance.

The rear wall 20 is of course strengthened by the interlock which alsoresists the formation of a wavy appearance. Moreover the joint 42 at theinterlock, midway between the top and bottom of the tubular member,presents the same apparance as the crease 40. Hence the tubular membersmay be reversed, that is some of the tubular members may have theinterlock on the front face of the panel and others on the rear facealthough the overall appearance of the panel from either side providedby the tubular members will be exactly the same.

The tubular members are respectively removably connected to the channelsby the fasteners 45.

The front walls 18 of all of the tubular members lie in a common planeand cooperate to define the front face of the panel, and the rear Walls20 of the tubular members likewise lie in the same plane and cooperateto define the rear face of the panel.

In the event one of the tubular members becomes damaged, that memberonly need be replaced. In other words, it is not necessary to replacethe entire panel, as it is with the conventional leaf which is made upof a single flat metal sheet.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. A panel comprising a series of identical horizontally extendinghollow elongated tubular members of substantially rectangular crosssection arranged in edge to edge relation, each of said members beingformed from a single piece of sheet metal, and a pair of verticallyextending channels substantially equal in height to the overall verticalheight of said tubular members, opening toward opposite ends of saidtubular members, and having opposite sides thereof overlapping andsecured in surface to sur face relation to opposite sides of saidtubular members, one upright face of each tubular member being providedsubstantially midway between the top and bottom thereof with ahorizontally extending outwardly opening groove, adjacent edges of thesingle piece of sheet metal being connected horizontally substantiallymidway between the top and bottom of the opposite upright face of eachtubular member to provide a joint simulating the groove aforesaid,whereby each tubular member is reversible,

2. A panel comprising a series of identical hollow elongated tubularmembers of substantially rectangular crosssection removably securedtogether in edge to edge re1ation, the walls of each tubular memberbetween the edges References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 959,576 McCloud May 31, 1910 1,710,108 Orrock Apr. 23,1929 2,101,056 Frick Dec. 7, 1937 2,146,180 Frick Feb. 7, 1939 2,722,295Guthrie Nov. 1, 1955

1. A PANEL COMPRISING A SERIES OF IDENTICAL HORIZONTALLY EXTENDINGHOLLOW ELONGATED TUBULAR MEMBERS OF SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR CROSSSECTION ARRANGED IN EDGE TO EDGE RELATION, EACH OF SAID MEMBERS BEINGFORMED FROM A SINGLE PIECE OF SHEET METAL, AND A PAIR OF VERTICALLYEXTENDING CHANNELS SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL IN HEIGHT TO THE OVERALL VERTICALHEIGHT OF SAID TUBULAR MEMBERS, OPENING TOWARD OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAIDTUBULAR MEMBERS, AND HAVING OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF OVERLAPPING ANDSECURED IN SURFACE TO SURFACE RELATION TO OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID TUBULARMEMBERS, ONE UPRIGHT FACE OF EACH TUBULAR MEMBER BEING PROVIDEDSUBSTANTIALLY MIDWAY BETWEEN THE TOP AND THE BOTTOM THEREOF WITH AHORIZONTALLY EXTENDING OUTWARDLY OPENING GROOVE, ADJACENT EDGES OF THESINGLE PIECE OF SHEET METAL BEING CONNECTED HORIZONTALLY SUBSTANTIALLYMIDWAY BETWEEN THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE OPPOSITE UPRIGHT FACE OF EACHTUBULAR MEMBER TO PROVIDE A JOINT SIMULATING THE GROOVE AFORESAID,WHEREBY EACH TUBULAR MEMBER IS REVERSIBLE.